Patient Safety Practices in Asia-Pacific Countries: A Survey based on Strategic Objectives of the Global Patient Safety Action Plan Framework by the World Health Organization

Abstract

Introduction: This study aims to evaluate patient safety practices in the Asia-Pacific region based on Strategic Objectives of the Global Patient Safety Action Plan (GPSAP) Framework and identify good and sub-optimal patient safety practice examples in the Asia-Pacific.Methodology: As part of a quantitative study, a self-assessment survey tool was sent to a total of 25 health centers participating in Global Action for Leaders & Learning Organizations on Patient Safety (GALLOPS) initiative. The survey tool was based on the GPSAP’s 7 strategy objectives (SOs) which was stratified into 35 areas of patient safety. The scale was from 1 to 5, with 1 being “not established” to 5 being “strongly established with good practices” for each of the 35 strategic areas. The mean of each strategic areas, SOs, and overall mean of SOs for the health centers were calculated. Good and sub-optimal practices of GALLOPS-participating countries according to GPSAP-defined patient safety strategies were identified and tabulated.Result: A total of 15 self-rated responses were received from 8 GALLOPS-participating Asia-Pacific countries’ health centers. The overall mean scores of all self-assessed SOs were: Singapore (3.84); Malaysia (3.66); South Korea (3.57); India (3.20); Sri Lanka (3.09); Indonesia (2.46); Nepal (2.14); Maldives (1.94). The total mean of all health centers’ SOs was 2.99. SO3 (Safety of clinical processes) had the highest mean of 3.39, while SO4 (Patient and family engagement) and 7 (Synergy, partnership and solidarity) had 2.54 and 2.55, having two lowest means for all countries’ health centers, respectively. Conclusion: Our study revealed substantial differences in patient safety practices across health centers of Asia-Pacific countries and across the strategic objective domains. This helped to establish a baseline of patient safety landscape in Asia Pacific and represented opportunities for promoting equity in healthcare and improving patient safety.